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comment by The_Final_Boss
The_Final_Boss  ·  2970 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Help!

Ok, the main thing I need to know is many things, but here's one of them, the problems like this are driving me crazy: I can't get the image, but imagine a triangle, one length is 6m, one length is 8m, and one length is c, then it asks, what is the length of the hypotenuse.





user-inactivated  ·  2970 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You know

    6² + 8² = c²

by the Pythagorean theorem, so all that's left is a little algebra. Since both sides are equal, their square roots are equal, so

   c = √( 6² + 8²) = 10

getting there just depends on knowing the theorem and a little bit of algebra. If it's the first part that's giving you trouble you should study the proof until you can see why it's true, because then remembering it is easy, but most just memorize it. If it's the second then review your algebra. Your textbook sucks, because all high school math textbooks suck, but it's not impossible to make sense of.

The_Final_Boss  ·  2969 days ago  ·  link  ·  

So the Pythagorean theorem is a set formula? If so, can you provide it.

user-inactivated  ·  2969 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's not a formula, it's a theorem, hence the name. If a and b are two sides of a right triangle, and c is the hypotenuse, then a² + b² = c² . Do not just remember a² + b² = c², the "if a and b are two sides of a right triangle" gives the condition under which that relationship between 3 lengths holds. If you have a triangle which is not a right triangle, then the Pythagorean theorem tells you nothing directly.

The_Final_Boss  ·  2969 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Ah, jeez can you, um, "dumb it down for me"?

The_Final_Boss  ·  2969 days ago  ·  link  ·  
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